2014 Olympics Mens Free Skate

[Chemistry66]

So I assume you find those youtube videos of Mao when she was grimacing in the air funny and not malicious?

Yes. They're funny. Mao is beautiful, but even she's not able to avoid the silly-face-in-mid-air-in-a-split-second monster.

 

[100yen]

Wow...underwhelming but yet incredibly nerve-wracking to see how the numbers would add up.

I'm honestly glad Yuzuru won because I won't have to suffer Chan's insufferable attitude being shoved down my throat even more than it already is At least we have a grateful, humble Olympic champion.

Neither were completely fantastic, but I will be watching Hanyu's SP for a long time. Patrick just couldn't take it when it was right in front of him.

 

[onodian]

But Fernandez CAN land and has landed it. The CoP is about rewarding risk, since obviously you have to take some risks to get a big reward.

No, you have to take a risk and then ACTUALLY MANAGE, to get a reward. You had people landing quads and triple axels in this competition. Just not the gold and silver. As I said, I'm not a usual fan of the sport, but there were enough decent performances out here I thought. They just never stood a chance. You have to reward the risk, when people manage. When they don't they should be penalized. And by not managing I don't mean underrotating. I mean going out to skate for gold and throwing a first jump which EVERYBODY in a forum like this was expecting you to miss and totally miss it. That's absolutely rewarding the wrong attitude. It's the quad-Russian roulette.

 

[Panpie]

My two cents. This is the olympics, the biggest pressure cooker to an athlete, I for one could never even dream of doing what they do. I have 3 children, 2 of them are athletes the other prefers the arts. Anyway one is in hockey and one in gymnastics and I hope they are never judged the way some people are judging these young men. They have trained most of their young lives and sacraficed more than most of us can imagine and to get to the day they have been training for and it not go the way they had invisioned it is horrible.crushing. you know what they say those that can DO and those that cant BULLY. I hope the likes of all these skaters dont surf this site and see all the haters Instead I hope they can skate away and hold their heads high as they have done more than most of us can ever dream of.

Thank you for your comment. I thought Hanyu's performance was beautiful outside the mistakes. Same for Patrick, and I am not a fan of his at all. I was disappointed for them, but happy for them, too. Loved Daisuke and Jason, too, despite their problems.

 

[BlackPack]

Wow, she said that? Serioulsy? I mean, not saying that I didn't 'think' it, but that's a little harsh coming from a fellow teammate and skater (and maybe friend?).

Joannie.... you're history. Be quiet. Really.

I think Chan was pretty much silver on a silver platter. Hanyu had the advantage and momentum all season. We've seen how multiple major mistakes still couldn't erase what he accomplished earlier. Same thing with Chan. Oh well. Both overrated beyond their, albeit incredible abilities, but they were blown out of proportion.

 

[Skater Boy]

They named Max to the team with Jason as first alternate as a formality; the reasoning being that Jeremy would quit after Olys and Jason/Max would be the team. They HAD to name Jeremy because he was National Champ.



Wait, there was a problem with the last spin? It's the exact same one he's been doing all year!

I am so sad. Hanyu and chan both deserve gold and probably no one else to be fair deserves a medal. I would have given gold to both of these guys - I am happy for Hanyu but it seems like Hanyu peaked at the rigth time and there was some wiggle room. THose who kept on whining about inflation I truly hope they did not influence the judges. It is sad though Canada are the Susan Lucci's of skating and really they have had reasonable chances of wining or could have been given gold Manley could have won gold so many different ways in 1988 (Ito placing higher, Witt marked lower in schools, all sorts of legit reasons), Orser could have won gold especially when tie breaker was artisry in 1988 and even 1984 wih school figrues well I guess it would be hard with the rules then - just the rules even here despite many naysayers hgiher pcs than what Chan got could have happened. I just feel bad and Ten is so lucky to have a medal a medal where here were good candidates talent and sentimenta Dai, Joubert, Fernandez - this was kind of a sad men's eent. Plushy retired and injured. Jason the American hero fell from grace so to speak. Chan not winning the elusive gold. Hanyu winning but not convincingly. Sad all around! I know Hanyu can take comfiort in the gold. I feel for Chan and Ten is th eonly lucky one reallly and just everything fell into place so to speak.

 

[qwertyskates]

Yes. They're funny. Mao is beautiful, but even she's not able to avoid the silly-face-in-mid-air-in-a-split-second monster.

Yeah, so they must be EVEN FUNNIER when they fall and land unceremoniously on their butts, RIGHT???!!

Why don't you show us a mug of how wonderful you look doing a quad in mid-air, hmm?

 

[will74lsn]

I am going to watch Boitano's free program in Calgary!!!! After this uninspiring free skate I really need Brian!!!!

 

[Silvia451]

I'm sorry that Dai didn't even finish in the first 5...I wanted to see him at the gala.

 

[Chemistry66]

Yeah, so they must be EVEN FUNNIER when they fall and land unceremoniously on their butts, RIGHT???!!

...Holy overreaction, Batman. Silly faces in midair? Funny. Never said falling is funny. In fact, I've said the opposite.

Also, to your edit, they don't HAVE to look pretty midair. I know they can't control it. But that doesn't mean it's not funny looking.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

No, you have to take a risk and then ACTUALLY MANAGE, to get a reward. You had people landing quads and triple axels in this competition. Just not the gold and silver. As I said, I'm not a usual fan of the sport, but there were enough decent performances out here I thought. They just never stood a chance. You have to reward the risk, when people manage. When they don't they should be penalized. And by not managing I don't mean underrotating. I mean going out to skate for gold and throwing a first jump which EVERYBODY in a forum like this was expecting you to miss and you missed. That's absolutely rewarding the wrong attitude.

I think many of the guys went for quads knowing that they didn't have a huge shot at landing it, but did it to stay competitive. Playing it safe doesn't usually make the podium.

Fernandez has gone for all 3 quads and has done them. So that risk is worth taking.

Hanyu doing a 4S means he has much greater technical content, so that risk is worth taking even if he rarely lands it.

I'm hoping Hanyu and Chan and everyone else have a much better worlds.

I'm optimistic about the future in that more quads are being attempted... but when the guys land them more consistently, we can can expect a much higher level Olympics in 2018, hopefully.

 

[bartlebooth]

I am revalueing Plu more than Evan.
He has medals from four different Olympics.
What a strong mind he has

Indeed. He nearly always got the job done under pressure.

 

[tjskate]

Panpie, I totally agree. I've done lots of volunteering with skating and am so impressed with the sacrifice and discipline of these skaters. I can't imagine the pressure they perform under. Even making it to the Olympics is such an enormous achievement! Congrats to them all!

 

[rollerblade]

Could the problem be the lack of a day in between SP and FS?

In all honesty, for these medalists, I really don't think they will skate perfectly with one extra day rest. Yuzu would have fallen on the 4S like he usually does, and Patrick would have those step-outs like he usually does.

 

[mikiandorocks]

Congrats to all the medalists.
At this point the only thing I can really say is "Why Patrick? Why?"

 

[Skater Boy]

I thought Fernandez should have won the bronze. I know he had alot of mistakes but there was no reason for his PCS to be lower than Takahashi and with the same PCS as Takahashi he would have stayed ahead of Ten. It was a make up gift to Ten by the judges for being robbed of the World title last year.

I am sure now Orser will have both Hanyu and Fernandez for atleast another four years. Hanyu wont be fully satisfied winning the Olympics without his best performance and will want to chase the historic feat of winning 2 and doing it with an ultimate performance next time. Fernandez will want to chase an Olympic medal and possibly the Gold after missing out here.

IMHO he should be grateful he won gold but call it what you want or disguise it what you want we are jealous "me" type people not so deep down. I wonder if he realizes just how lucky (yes talent too) he is. There were two men heads and shoulders above everyone else. As for Fernandez I still think when you look at his transitions and sksating skills he is one or two steps behind Dai, Chan and Hanyu and Dai and Hanyu a bit ehihd Chan. I think he has the Brian J oubert factor and does the posing and charm to garner some points. THis is why the Charlie Chaplin program was too his advanage often.

 

[mirai4life]

Why are people surprised? The OLympics is usually a splatfest. The pressure is enough to kill any confidence.

um no...

 

[SGrand]

Well, that was a dog's breakfast!

I agree with Joannie 100%. He didn't win the silver, he lost the gold. My FB friends who are former comp skaters are very displeased with Patrick Chan who, apparently just said to the media, "well, it wasn't my worst skate ever, so that's a positive." Armchair athletes are all saying how wonderful it is because, well, it's a medal for CAN and we got none yesterday. I'm happy he still got on the podium for Canada but that skate was not good. Again, why on earth would an Olympic gold contender hire an Athur Murray Dance Instructor as his primary coach in an Olympic year? So he could date her daughter? He needed a solid technical coach behind him to fix that 3ax and the jump inconsistencies.

Good lord, he was still wiping the sweat off of himself, what is he supposed to say?? He's obviously devastated and put waaaaay too much pressure on himself. He probably couldn't even think straight really. Not saying that what he said sounded appropriate, but it was right after his marks where I'm surprised he held up so well with the cameras on him. It's like Jeremy and his huge fall, you interview him right after his skate and you get a weird interview because he's in shock. I think Patrick is in shock, he KNOWS he could have had it, easily, but he just fell apart and probably feels pretty damn sh#*#* about it.

 

[qwertyskates]

...Holy overreaction, Batman. Silly faces in midair? Funny. Never said falling is funny. In fact, I've said the opposite.

Well, don't they make even FUNNIER faces when they fall? Learn some respect please!! And if you're one of those who put up videos of "ugly faces" and scrawled comments about "ugly skaters" , then you're truly mean spirited.

This is a difficult sport, NO ONE is going to look their best doing of of the most gravity-defying acts on earth!!

 

[Rachmaninoff]

Yeah, so they must be EVEN FUNNIER when they fall and land unceremoniously on their butts, RIGHT???!!

Why don't you show us a mug of how wonderful you look doing a quad in mid-air, hmm?

Um, no one's claiming anyone would look good doing a jump mid-air. That's kind of the point.

Of all the things to act morally superior about. Who bloody cares if someone finds a picture with a funny face funny?